Information Design - Data Visualisation

This course is a hands-on experience aimed at designers, non-designers, current students or any professional working in an environment that requires presenting information in effective ways in order to capture the imagination of an audience. You will be introduced to the bright world of information visualization, where the intersection of text and image, perception and cognition, beauty and function, logic and emotion enables us to create splendid visions, to reveal what hides behind the data and to address effective messages...

Description

This course is a hands-on experience aimed at designers, non-designers, current students or any professional working in an environment that requires presenting information in effective ways in order to capture the imagination of an audience.

You will be introduced to the bright world of information visualization, where the intersection of text and image, perception and cognition, beauty and function, logic and emotion enables us to create splendid visions, to reveal what hides behind the data and to address effective messages.

Topics covered

We will explore how to define a project based on an initial question.

You will learn how to gather and organize your data, and how to identify the message you want to communicate in relation to your audience.

We will also explore how to transform your data into powerful stories and how to choose the most appropriate tools in order to present those stories.

You will realize that stories are a vehicle for making facts and numbers come alive.

'Stories permit information to be imprinted into memory. They encourage the application of information and that is what gives it meaning.' (R.S. Wurman).

Entry requirements: None

Level: Beginners

Tutor information

Angela Morelli is an Italian information designer based in Norway. She gained her MA in Communication Design from Central St Martins, where she specialised in Information Design. She previously gained a degree in Engineering from Politecnico di Milano and an MA in Industrial Design. She has collaborated with a number of research organizations in Europe. Besides self-initiating projects on environmental and social issues, she works together with the scientists of the Global Health Unit at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health in Oslo, Norway, with the aim of communicating medical information to doctors, patients and policy makers. She has been jury member of the International Institute of Information Design Award, is an international speaker and Associate Lecturer at Central St Martins in London and has been visitor lecturer in universities such as Oslo National Academy of the Arts and Design, Westerdals Oslo School of Arts, University of Oslo, London Royal College of Art, London Brunel University, University of Reading, University of Portsmouth, University of Western Sydney, Paris Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs. Along with philantropist Paul Polak, ethologist Jane Goodall, water scientist Tony Allan and other individuals committed to defend planetary ecosystems she has been awarded Il Monito del Giardino Award in 2013. Angela serves as an ambassador for virtual water research, and was named a 2012 Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. She is co-founder and CEO of InfoDesignLab.

Tom Gabriel Johansen has over 15 years of practice in design; ranging from strategic design to board game design, from interaction design to information visualization. He has worked as a special advisor in visualizing data for Statistic Norway. During that time, he was a member of Eurostat’s Visualization Task Force. He is currently working full time at The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, within the area of interaction and information design. He is an advocate for the value of cross collaboration among different professions and works closely with journalists, researchers, scientists and activists. Tom’s work has been awarded for being innovative and powerful in the service of understanding. Tom is COO and co-founder of Infodesignlab. He is an acclaimed international speaker and teach at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts and Central St Martins University in London. Whenever there is time, he loves to sail, passionately observing clouds.

Materials

Please bring with you to the first session:

Notebook

Pencil, pen and colour pencils

Felt tips

Eraser

Ruler

Pritt stick (glue)

Scissors

A compass (if you like drawing perfect circles!)

Laptops re not required but they might be useful only for conducting some research